Costliness
by Appeltje Fruitschaal
Summary: I'm engaged." Roxy's eyebrows shot up. "you mean as in, you are engaging in a tournament." She tried, studying him suspiciously. She glanced down at the pockets of his robes where he had stuffed his hands in. "No, I mean as in marriage." Fred said, fingering the golden band on his finger. OneShot


The steady thrum of knuckles rasping against the surface of her precious coffee table startled Roxy out of her book.

"Wha- Fred, stop destroying my stuff." She said, looking over the edge of her book. Fred raised an eyebrow at his little sister and sat back on her couch, looking around. "Don't need to, little sis. I'll just let nature take it's course in this jungle, and nothing will be standing by next winter."

Roxy glared and snapped her book shut. Well, calling it a book was a bit charitable, it was more a picture book with a few words crammed in between the pictured, making it legal to call it a book so it's readers, like Roxy, wouldn't be too embarrassed to read it.

"Ha, ha." She said dryly. "If I remember correctly, your place is worse."

"You don't." Fred said. A smug look came over his face. "I, cleaned it up."

Roxy scowled. "Traitor."

"Says the snake to the lizard."

Roxy frowned. "I don't think that saying goes that way."

"It does now. It pisses everyone off, especially Al. You should use it as well."

Roxy perched her lips as she thought about it. The twinkle in her eyes said she found the idea as appealing as Fred himself. "I can't." She sighed. "I'm still on probation for that last prank. I think I'll be banned from all family gatherings if I do anything wrong in the next month."

Fred scratched his neck, knocking over a lamp and a potted plant in the process.  
The pot landed on the floor with a loud crash, and the whole thing almost exploded as it burst apart on the floor.

"Oh, Shite." Fred cursed, jumping up and hitting his leg against the coffee table. "Why is it such a fucking mess in here?" He exclaimed as pain stabbed violently at his leg, tearing it open with evil little knives.

"Fred! Watch what you're doing, will ya?"

She followed his gaze and saw the broken pot on the ground, potted earth splattered all over the ground and a sad little, knacked plant, lying on the ground, dying silently.

"It's alright, that's that ugly thing mum got me for christmas." Roxy said, and patted the cushion next to her. "Sit down and don't move too much."

Fred hurriedly sat down, ignoring the spasm that shot through his leg, and tried to occupy as little space as was humanly possible.

"So, why did you stop by?" Roxy asked.

A grin spread over Fred's features despite the pain in his leg. "you won't believe me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

"I'm engaged." Fred said, puffing his chest out in pride.

Roxy sighed. "Fred, We've been over this. It isn't something to be proud of when you are engaged in a fight."

"No, I'm engaged." Fred stretched the word.  
Roxy's eyebrows shot up. "you mean as in, you are engaging in a tournament." She tried. She was studying him suspiciously, glancing down at the pockets of his robes where he had stuffed his hands in.

"No, I mean as in marriage." Fred said, fingering the golden band on his finger.

"You... you're going to get married?" Roxy asked, disbelief writing in every one of her features.

"Yes." Fred said. Roxy's mouth parted in a silent 'oh'.

"And... You are serious?"

Fred nodded. Her lack of trust in him worrying him slightly. "Of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be?"  
Roxy coughed into her hand and looked away awkwardly. "It's just that..." She started, inspecting her childish picture book on the table.

"You getting married is as preposterous as a house-elf on a strike." She said.

"What?" Fred exclaimed, his hand flying to his hair without his consent - thank merlin it didn't knock anything over - and messing it up.

"You aren't even seeing anyone." Roxy said.

"I am." Fred said, waving his left hand in front of her face, wiggling his ring-finger. "You don't honestly think I would joke about something like this, do you?"

Roxy shrugged and grabbed a pillow, hugging it against herself. "I guess not, no. But really Fred, you don't have anyone to engage with, so it must be some kind of practical joke."

Fred scowled. "Well, I am. With Patricia."

Roxy groaned. "Fred, you've known her for four months."

"No." Fred said. "_That_ would be ridiculous. I've known her for five months. Everyone knows that when you go out for five months without pissing the other off, you're meant to be together forever."  
He crossed his arms, daring her to object.

"No one knows that." Roxy objected offhandedly. She suddenly perked up, shoved the pile of magazines that lay between them off the couch, and sat on her knees so she was pacing her.

Fred back up against the arm of the couch as Roxy came closer and closer with a playful gleam in her eyes that most of their friends had learned to fear.

"I didn't know you were dating anyone, freddy-kins." She cowed. Fred paled.

"I was."

"And did mum knows this particular piece of information?"  
Fred's eyes flicked to the photograph of his mother, Roxy had ever so kindly strapped to the centre of her darting board. "I... It might have slipped my mind. But you know how she is always nagging me about how she wants me to have grandchildren."

"Of course it has." Roxy sighed. "And you don't think that she will get upset in the least when you tell her you are marrying a girl she has never even seen?"

"I..." Fred turned red.

Roxy smirked in victory. "And it would be a shame if someone told her before you had a chance to, wouldn't it?"

"No." Fred clasped his hand over her mouth, shutting her up in the most effective way he could think of. That was not why he had came here. She was supposed to pick his side and help him with his mum, not turn the damned situation to her advantage. "I'll go to uncle Percy's business party. Bloody hell, just don't tell her."

He felt Roxy smile under his hand, and he removed it before she did something disgusting like liking it.  
"Alright. Deal." Roxy said, sticking out her hand.

Fred shook it. "So keep your big waffle shut."

"I will if you will."

Roxy picked up her picture book and starting looking- excuse him, reading- it again, paying him just as much attention as she had when he had appeared in the fireplace that morning.

Fred stared at the cover of the book that hid Roxy from view, thinking.

"Roxy?" He asked eventually.

She peeked over the ridge of the book again, her brown eyes puzzled. "You're still here?"

He nodded. "I just..."

"You're already having doubts?" Roxy asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Fred shook his head. "No. Not at all, actually."

"great." Roxy said.

"Yes."

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Fred messed his hair up again. "I.. remember when I said I was engaged?"  
"You mean ten minutes ago? No, I completely forgot about it."

Fred shuffled his foot on the ground. "Well, I might have been a little unspecific."  
Roxy groaned and put her book down for a second time. "Alright. Tell me what you did this time."

"Nothing." Fred said indignantly.

"Did you piss her off?"

"No. No, I really like her, Roxy."

He remembered the way she pressed against him when he claimed her lips for the first time. The way her hair smelled when she just showered. As weird as it sounded, he even liked it when she was being senseless and irrational -and all the perks involved-, or got him involved into one of her mad schemes that never seemed to end well.

He shook his head and looked at Roxy's face. It was screwed up in disgust, probably because of the foolish-love-struck-expression he must have been wearing only moments ago.  
"I love her." He said, dramatically clutching his heart.

Roxy's hand shook him out of his performance as it made contact with his head. He instinctively grabbed the place she had hit him and let out a pathetic wine.

"Idiot." Roxy muttered. "You were here to tell me something, not to annoy -"

"I got married yesterday. We were in Vegas, and one thing lead to another.." Fred burst out, unable to keep it in. "I had a few drinks, but I'm not sorry for anything I did." He could literally see the words die in her throat. She opened and closed her mouth, looking like a fish gasping for air. Her eyes bored into his skull and Fred could tell she was trying to figure out what was going on in his head. Well, he wished her good luck. As she had told him so many times, nothing could reach him through his thick skull.

She sighed and gave up, sulking slightly and still speechless. Funny, he had never known his sister could be shut up by anything but a silencing spell or something lethal.

"You're so dead." She finally managed.

"I know. I was hoping you could help me with that."

Roxy stood up. "No, Fred. I am not going to tell this one to mum and dad. My ears are still ringing from the last time you did something stupid and I had to tell them."

Fred pouted. "No. I am going to tell her."

Roxy tilted her head. "Then, where do I come in?"

"I was hoping you could calm her down while I'm celebrating my honeymoon."

"Don't go." Roxy said immediately, sitting back down next to him. Fred raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't go. You barely know this woman."

Fred snorted. "I know her well enough."  
Roxy rolled her eyes. "The honeymoon is always the beginning of the end. You'll come back a broken man"

"Yeah, broken from too much sex!"

"Fred!" Roxy hit him on the arm. "Don't be ridiculous. We're talking about spending the rest of your life together with that person."

"You haven't seen her properly, have you?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Fred, for this to work out, you have to have more in common than, well..." She blushed and whispered, "Than sex."

Fred became serious again as he saw genuine worry in her eyes. It was oddly touching that his little sister was trying to look out for him. "I do feel more for her than only physical attractiveness, Rox, and I don't know if it will work out." He trailed off and looked at his wedding ring. A small, fond smile appeared on his face without him noticing, and when he looked back up, his eyes were aflame.

"But I know I want to give this one a shot, because believe me Roxy, if someone is worth it, it's her."

Roxy shook her head and laughed.

"Well, I have to admit. This wedding of yours, it's completely like you."

**For The twelve days of Pottermas... It doesn't have a lot to do with christmas though... **

**I hope you enjoyed it^.^**


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